Lawmakers: Leakers go to jail

The top two lawmakers on the House Intelligence Committee warned Friday that anyone who jeopardizes national security by leaking classified information must go to jail.

Reps. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) and Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.) said in a joint interview on CNN’s “Starting Point” that there would be serious punishment for those responsible for the recent leaks of classified information that have alarmed both Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill.

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“We need to follow the leads of the investigation to the leaker and make sure that leaker goes to jail,” Rogers, the chairman of the committee, said. “Much like what happened with the Valerie Plame case. Someone went to jail over that. This is 100 times the magnitude of that, and somebody needs to pay a price for this crime.”

(In the case of Plame — an undercover CIA operative who sued George W. Bush administration officials, including then-Vice President Dick Cheney and his chief of staff, Scooter Libby, after her identity was leaked to reporters — Libby was found guilty of charges including obstruction of justice, but his sentence was later commuted by Bush.)

Ruppersberger, the highest ranking Democrat on the committee, noted that the recent leaks were “about the worst that I’ve seen” and echoed his colleague’s warning.

“Everyone who works in the area of intelligence and has the clearances to deal with that needs to know these leaks cannot happen and you’re going to be held accountable and go to jail if you do leak,” the Maryland congressman said.

Rogers also said that he’s supportive of the idea, suggested by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) this week, of appointing a special council to head an investigation into the leaks — rather than have a member of the Obama administration lead the probe.

“You can’t have somebody who may have leaked it in the chain of command investigating themselves,” he said. “It starts to get a little murky quickly. We need to make sure it is a fair investigation, [that] it’s complete.”

He added, “This is the first time we have seen such bipartisan effort because of the severity of the pattern of leaks. There wasn’t one particular incident. There was a whole slew of incidents. So I do feel confident we will be able to find and prosecute the individual who did it.”

A string of recent reports revealed classified information about U.S. intelligence operations, including details of a cyberattack against Iran’s nuclear program and a “kill list” of terrorists that President Barack Obama allegedly oversees — both reported by The New York Times.

Some Republican lawmakers have charged that the White House orchestrated the leaks to boost the president’s image in an election year. The White House has denied those allegations, saying it’s irresponsible to accuse the administration of authorizing leaks for political gain.

In a press conference on the economy in the White House briefing room Friday morning, Obama said he has a “zero tolerance” policy for the kinds of intelligence leaks that made headlines this week.

“We have mechanisms in place where if we can root out folks who have leaked, they will suffer consequences,” he said. “In some cases it’s criminal — these are criminal acts.”

As for the allegations that the leaks came from his administration officials, Obama said, “The notion that my White House would purposely release classified national security information is offensive. It’s wrong and people, I think, need to have a better sense of how I approach this office and how the people around me here approach this office.”